General TwinAir Dipsticks .

[jumble]

After finally getting hold of some 0W30 oil ( Mobil ) , spent most of the Bank Holiday afternoon trying to get the car level on the wobbliest gravel drive in the kingdom so I could get a true reading from the dipstick as to the state of play in the sump .
However , soon discovered how very clever the Fiat engineers had been in choosing a dipstick the exact same colour as the oil ! Honey coloured dipsticks do not make accurate oil level readings easy . After nearly 5,000 miles , required 600ml . Have always been a great believer in topping-up to the max mark .

 

[Mercky]

After finally getting hold of some 0W30 oil ( Mobil ) , spent most of the Bank Holiday afternoon trying to get the car level on the wobbliest gravel drive in the kingdom so I could get a true reading from the dipstick as to the state of play in the sump .

However , soon discovered how very clever the Fiat engineers had been in choosing a dipstick the exact same colour as the oil ! Honey coloured dipsticks do not make accurate oil level readings easy . After nearly 5,000 miles , required 600ml . Have always been a great believer in topping-up to the max mark .

Seems like a lot. As far as I know it's 500ml between max and min marks!! Also, are you sure the Mobil is the correct grade? ie, ACEA C2

 

[TwinAir Newbie]

I totally agree about the colour of the dipstick being a bad choice!

 

[JTD_Liam]

They're terrible colour dipsticks. Got an Alfa MiTo and had a 500 in the family till a couple of weeks ago with TwinAir engines & it's a right ballache trying to check the oil.

In the end I've used a new J-Cloth and just rest the dipstick on it & gently press to see how far up the dipstick the cloth gets a strong mark of oil. That seems to be the best way I can do it, but even then I have to repeat about 4 times to be on the safe side.

Bear in mind when the oil is as clean as it'll be at 5000 miles, it'll be even tougher to tell just from looking at the dipstick, so it might not have needed as much as 600ml :-/

 

[babbo_umbro]

Totally agree on the colour of the dipstick - it's probably about 3 pence cheaper to make than a metal one. Very surprised by your oil consumption - my 4x4 TA's done over 24000 miles in just under two years, oil changes at 5000 and 15000 miles - due for one at about 26/27000 when we're back on Pudding Island - and frequent checks have seen no need to top up at all.

 

[jumble]

Many thanks for everyone's comments .
I was as surprised as you all were that it took as much 0W30 as it did , but it did ! Now it's bang on the max mark . Been no starting or running issues or oil forcing its way here or there but it has maintained the excellent fuel economy - 62.3mpg on the display today - though I've not done a paper and pencil calculation for a week or so .

On another matter , my work often takes me deep into Kielder Forest and other mucky parts of Northumberland . But this isn't the only messy bit if the U.K. or Europe for that matter , so how come there are no Fiat mudflaps for the Panda ?
Or , when I'm having a Marku Allen moment , why no Fiat Panda rear roof spoiler ? Both might also help keep the rear screen etc cleaner . Fiat missing a trick or two once again I feel ! VW , Ford and the others all make healthy sales of these items . Oh , well . We live in hope !

 

[TwinAir Newbie]

Many thanks for everyone's comments .
I was as surprised as you all were that it took as much 0W30 as it did , but it did ! Now it's bang on the max mark . Been no starting or running issues or oil forcing its way here or there but it has maintained the excellent fuel economy - 62.3mpg on the display today - though I've not done a paper and pencil calculation for a week or so .

On another matter , my work often takes me deep into Kielder Forest and other mucky parts of Northumberland . But this isn't the only messy bit if the U.K. or Europe for that matter , so how come there are no Fiat mudflaps for the Panda ?
Or , when I'm having a Marku Allen moment , why no Fiat Panda rear roof spoiler ? Both might also help keep the rear screen etc cleaner . Fiat missing a trick or two once again I feel ! VW , Ford and the others all make healthy sales of these items . Oh , well . We live in hope !

Don't do what i once did and misread the dipstick and over filled it.

 

[varesecrazy]

After finally getting hold of some 0W30 oil ( Mobil ) , spent most of the Bank Holiday afternoon trying to get the car level on the wobbliest gravel drive in the kingdom so I could get a true reading from the dipstick as to the state of play in the sump .
However , soon discovered how very clever the Fiat engineers had been in choosing a dipstick the exact same colour as the oil ! Honey coloured dipsticks do not make accurate oil level readings easy . After nearly 5,000 miles , required 600ml . Have always been a great believer in topping-up to the max mark .

I've seen several reports on "babied" TA's drinking a bit of oil..,
so once mine had 1000 miles under it's belt I started to do the "race-engine" bore bedding method of changing down a gear too low into corners to flick the rev's up briefly under decelleration, ( once all up to temperature)
Mines not appeared to have used a drop in it's 18K miles - on it's 3rd change now all at FIAT/Alfa specialists- as my Punto needs an ECU reset with oil changes,

Charlie - Oxford

 

[forestgreen]

Many thanks for everyone's comments .
I was as surprised as you all were that it took as much 0W30 as it did , but it did ! Now it's bang on the max mark . Been no starting or running issues or oil forcing its way here or there but it has maintained the excellent fuel economy - 62.3mpg on the display today - though I've not done a paper and pencil calculation for a week or so .

On another matter , my work often takes me deep into Kielder Forest and other mucky parts of Northumberland . But this isn't the only messy bit if the U.K. or Europe for that matter , so how come there are no Fiat mudflaps for the Panda ?
Or , when I'm having a Marku Allen moment , why no Fiat Panda rear roof spoiler ? Both might also help keep the rear screen etc cleaner . Fiat missing a trick or two once again I feel ! VW , Ford and the others all make healthy sales of these items . Oh , well . We live in hope !

Hi,
Just bought a 4x4 TA myself from a woman in Rothbury- not so far from Kielder! Most info I've read has been from this site including oil. There seemed to be debate between 5w40 and OW30. The car parts place I work at suggested the former but the garage used the latter! Although the service schedule is every 2 years- and despite a stamp from last year - the oil was quite black when I checked it and the technician said the filter had all but disintegrated! Not good, especially as the oil should be kept clean on this engine. Took me a while to even find the dipstick! Loving the car though...it's as quirky as everyone said it was but a Classic Fiat drive. Mudflaps would be a great option.

 

[Graham GB]

When i clicked on this i thought i was going to read a thread slagging off Twinair owners .

 

[forestgreen]

When i clicked on this i thought i was going to read a thread slagging off Twinair owners .

Never! I'm finding it enjoyably quirky!

 

[chopsuk]

Ref earlier comment about oil consumption, my TwinAir used 2 litres in 4000 miles (from about 5000-9000 miles if I recall). Surprised the hell out of my wife when the light came on, but the dealer said it was normal / within expected tolerances.
One compounding problem is that it is almost impossible to read the oil level correctly with the abysmal dipstick design, which I would go so far as to suggest is a design fault.

 

[The Panda Nut]

I have made a dipstick for my TA which hangs on the garage wall. A steel rod of the right length suitably marked allows easy oil checks. The supplied dipstick is pretty well useless as the new one very clearly demonstrates. Its very easy to either run on low oil or badly overfill. I have posted some details here somewhere. I just used a piece of wire suitably marked at the correct length and put a big loop, on top so it cannot fall into the engine. Its bent to sit on the engine top and sit at the right level The oil level revealed was nothing like the cars dipstick led me to expect!!!!!

 

[porta]

Remove dipstick, clean, rub some chalk (or china-graph pencil) on dipstick then check level…shows up a dream

 

[Panda IIs]

I have made a dipstick for my TA which hangs on the garage wall. A steel rod of the right length suitably marked allows easy oil checks. The supplied dipstick is pretty well useless as the new one very clearly demonstrates. Its very easy to either run on low oil or badly overfill. I have posted some details here somewhere. I just used a piece of wire suitably marked at the correct length and put a big loop, on top so it cannot fall into the engine. Its bent to sit on the engine top and sit at the right level The oil level revealed was nothing like the cars dipstick led me to expect!!!!!

So, here's a question and I'm being lazy and not reading the manual;

With the integral dipstick, is the oil level correct when the cap is screwed all the way in and then checked (after unscrewing again) or just by dipping without screwing in? I would expect the former but can imagine that if you check by measuring with the cap not screwed in then you may well be light by the max/min mark difference??

Just playing devil's advocate really.

On the colour thing; I've seen images of new cap/dipstick assemblies where the dipstick is actually white. I wouldn't be surprised if they all start life like that but the oil additives and contaminates gradually change the colour, oh and there will be a significant contribution from the oil temperature - heat ageing the plastic.

 

[Cornish Ian]

So, here's a question and I'm being lazy and not reading the manual;

With the integral dipstick, is the oil level correct when the cap is screwed all the way in and then checked (after unscrewing again) or just by dipping without screwing in? I would expect the former but can imagine that if you check by measuring with the cap not screwed in then you may well be light by the max/min mark difference??

Just playing devil's advocate really.

On the colour thing; I've seen images of new cap/dipstick assemblies where the dipstick is actually white. I wouldn't be surprised if they all start life like that but the oil additives and contaminates gradually change the colour, oh and there will be a significant contribution from the oil temperature - heat ageing the plastic.

From the manual you screw the dipstick in on the 500 TA to take an accurate reading. Not something I do often now as it only seemed to use a bit in the first 18000 miles. TBH I just dip it then allow a bit for the thread.

It was 10 years ago now but I believe I’m right in saying ours was that yellow colour from new.

 

[The Panda Nut]

So, here's a question and I'm being lazy and not reading the manual;

With the integral dipstick, is the oil level correct when the cap is screwed all the way in and then checked (after unscrewing again) or just by dipping without screwing in? I would expect the former but can imagine that if you check by measuring with the cap not screwed in then you may well be light by the max/min mark difference??y
Just playing devil's advocate really.

On the colour thing; I've seen images of new cap/dipstick assemblies where the dipstick is actually white. I wouldn't be surprised if they all start life like that but the oil additives and contaminates gradually change the colour, oh and there will be a significant contribution from the oil temperature - heat ageing the plastic.

Yes screw in , but its still NFG as they say. My metal one works 100% A OK! These things work for 500 miles and the you might just as well guess. They turn brown.

 

[UKRMedic]

2000 miles ago my oil warning light came on...
I suspected damage / leak, filled with 'any available oil', to get me to my stock of consumables, and flushed oil, replaced filter, filled with proper oil. No signs of leak.

Reading this, I've just realised, the Twin air must actually be a 2 stroke engine in disguise....
I'm now less concerned by the oil consumption!

 

[Motorcyclist Colin]

2000 miles ago my oil warning light came on...
I suspected damage / leak, filled with 'any available oil', to get me to my stock of consumables, and flushed oil, replaced filter, filled with proper oil. No signs of leak.

Reading this, I've just realised, the Twin air must actually be a 2 stroke engine in disguise....
I'm now less concerned by the oil consumption!

2000 miles ago my oil warning light came on...
I suspected damage / leak, filled with 'any available oil', to get me to my stock of consumables, and flushed oil, replaced filter, filled with proper oil. No signs of leak.

Reading this, I've just realised, the Twin air must actually be a 2 stroke engine in disguise....
I'm now less concerned by the oil consumption!

Screw dipstick in, remove carefully and lay oily end on a piece of white (clean) paper. Clear to see where level is. Lots of previous posts about this

 

[UKRMedic]

Screw dipstick in, remove carefully and lay oily end on a piece of white (clean) paper. Clear to see where level is. Lots of previous posts about this

Yes. The oil warning light was my precursor to panic.

I'm sadly not one for checking too often, just servicing before needed.